Portable electric light



B. BENEDICT. PORTABLE ELECTRIC LIGHT. APPLICATIUN msn APR. so, 1919.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

BERNARD BENEDICT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LIGHT.

pecication of Letters Patent.- v Patented JaJL 18, 1921 Application led April 30, 1919. Serial No. 293,879.`

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I7 BERNARD BENEmo'r, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bronx, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Electric Lights, of which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains more particularly to the character of electric flashlights to be held in the hand and lighted, as occasion may require, by the manualmovement of a slide or other switch device applied upon the exterior casing of the flashlight. l

My invention resides more particularly in a novely arrangement and construction of parts, hereinafter specifically described and claimed, includingmeans for completing the circuit through the lam and battery, which obviate the accidental circuiting of the lamp by contact with metal articles, such as might arise when a flashlight, otherwise construct ed, is placed in a box of tools.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a central vertical vsection through a portable electric lamp embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 fis a corresponding section, on a smaller scale, through the casing of the fiashlIight, taken at a right angle to the section of iig. 1,' V i Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the lower portion of the casing of the flashlight, taken on the dotted line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top view of the rear cap of the flashlight carrying the conducting spring to engage the negative pole of the battery and the ring or band 'connected with the rear conducting strip of the instrument;

Fig. 5 is a detached inner face view of the escutcheon or housing inclosing the switch, and

Fig. 6 is a detached top view, partly in section, of a modification of a portion of the invention which consists in insulating the wire of the spring at the rear cap in lieu of providing an insulating disk on the inner surface of said cap to receive a bare wire spring.

In the drawings, 10 designates a tubular casing, preferably of fiber or other insulating material, 11 a plural cell battery therein, 12 a wrapping of insulating material on said battery, 13 a screw cap' closing the lower or rear end of said casing, 14 a conducting spring held within said cap and engaging the negative pole of the battery, 15 a threaded sleeve secured to therear end of the casing 10 and receiving the threaded portion of the cap 13, 16 a threaded sleeve secured to the forward end of said casing, 17 a customary collar or sleeve screwed upon the sleeve 16, 18 a customary lensheld in position by the aforesaid collar 17, 19 ancustomary reflector within the forward end of the casing 10 and supported upon the outer end thereof below said lens, and 2O a miniature electric lamp of known character having its terminal sleeve 21 screwed into the usual threaded sleeve 22 of said reflector, the other terminal 23 of the lamp being retained in engagement with the positive pole 24 of the battery by means of the spring 14. m

The parts specifically referred'to by reference numerals hereinbefore are, with the exception ofy certain details hereinafter mentioned, of customary arrangement and construction.

Inaccordance with my invention I provide a construction to avoid the accidental circuiting of the battery and lamp, and hence there are features of construction presented by me which enter into' cooperation with prior art features in the production of the completed article of manufacture and which enhance the value and desirability of the same, these new features having to do with the making and breaking ofthe circuit and the avoidance of short-circuiting or accidental circuiting of the current.

In accordance with my invention I secure upon the exterior side of the casing 10, by means of eyelets or rivets 25, 26, a housing or escutcheonv of box-like formation 27 having laterally extending wings 28, 29, respectively, through which and said casing said eyelets or` rivets pass, and within the escutcheon orv housing 27. locate a spring switch 30 whichl is of known type and connected with athumb-piece or slide31r by which when manually operated the circuit ma be completed through the lamp, battery an conductors hereinafter mentioned in the lighting of the lamp 20. The wing 29 of the escutcheon or housing 27 has secured to it the lower end of a conducting strip 33 which is engaged at its upper end by an inwardly turned flange 34 on the threaded sleeve 16 on which the customary flange of the re- Hector 19 rests. The conducting strip 33 laps over upon the upper end of the casing 10 and is held down on the upper edge ot said casing by the flange 34 of the sleeve 16. The upper edge flange on the reflector 19 by resting on the flange 34 of the sleeve 16 places one terminal oi the lamp 20 in electrical connection with the conducting strip 33, which is at the inner side of the casing 10 and extends to and is in electrical engagement with the wing 29 oi" the housing or escutcheon 27.

The cap 13-at the lower or rear end of the casing 10 has closely applied within it a shallow cup-like insulating member ailording a disk 35 and side walls 36 which are pressed into an annular beading 37 formed at the lower end of said cap 13, and upon the disk 35 is applied the coiled spring 14 whose lower coil engages the side portions 36 of the insulating member and is caught within the beading 37 of the cap 13, so that said spring becomes secured to and carried by, but is insulated from, said cap. The side portions 36 of the insulating member lining the cap 13 also serve to keep the lower coil of the spring from electrical engagement with the lower edge of the sleeve 15. The

' upper coil or upper portion or' the spring 14 is carried outwardly, as at 38, and is, when the cap 13 is in position, always in electrical engagement with a metal ring or band 39 which is closely litted within the lower or rear end of the casing 10 and secured to the'rear conducting strip 40, whose upper end is secured by an eyelet or rivet 41 to the casing 10, the outer end of said eyelet or rivet being concealed within and protected by the housing or` escutcheon 27. One of the essential features of my invention resides in theprovision of the conducting ring or band 39 and its connection with the rear conductor 40 which, at the eyelet or rivet 41, may be placed in circuit with the conducting strip 33 by the downward movement of the switch 30 to engage the outer end of said eyelet or rivet 41 and thus establish the cire cuit from the strip 40, eyelet 41, switch 30 and housing 27 to the strip 33.

The operation of the invention will probably be fully understood from the foregoing description. The circuit from the negative pole of the battery is through the spring 14, ring or band 39 to the conducting strip 40 and thence through, on the operation of the switch, the Contact rivet 41, switch 30, housing 27, conducting strip 33, reflector 19, lamp terminal 21 and lamp terminal 23 to the positive pole of the battery. When the light is to be extinguished the thumb-piece 31 is pushed upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1 so as to break the connection between the switch 30 and eyelet or rivet 41, thus breaking the circuit.

The ring or band 39 is within the casing 10 and insulated from the threaded `sleeve 1:3 and closing cap 13, and said ring or band may be secured to the conductor 40 `in any suitable manner or by an eyelet or rivet lf2 whose outer end will be countersunh within the material of the casing 10 so that said end may be insulated from the threaded sleeve 15.

One of the more important :features of the invention resides in the provision within the rear end of the casing 10 oi? the ring or band 39 of conducting material in electrical connection with the rear conducting strip 4U, and in the shaping oi the conducting spring 14 so that its upper coil or free end, while engaging the negative pole of the battery also is in constant electrical connection with the ring or band 39, said spring 14 being insulated from the closing cap 13. The construction just referred to is reliable, inexpensive of manufacture and efectually prevents the short-circuiting of the flashlight. In lieu of employing the shallow insulating cup within the lower end of the cap 13, l may apply insulation directly on the spring 14, as I indicate in Fig. 6, in which 50 may des ignate the insulating material coating over the spring 14.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. A portable electric light comprising an exterior casing, a battery therein, an electric lamp in electrical connection with the positive pole of the battery, a closingcap at the rear end of the casing, a spring therein engaging the negative pole of the battery, a metallic ring or band within the rear end oi the casing, switch mechanism on the side of the casing, and suitable conductors for establishing the circuit through the lamp and battery on the operation of the switch and one of which conductors is in electrical connection with said ring or band, said spring having an upper coil carried outwardly to at all times engage the inner lace of said ring or band, and said spring and said ring or band being insulated from the metal parts of the lamp surrounding them and from said closing-cap.

2. A portable electric light comprising an exterior casing, a battery therein, an electric lamp in electrical connection with the positive pole of the battery, a closing-cap at the rear end of the casing, a spring there in engaging the negative pole of the battery, a metallic ring or band within. the rear end of the casing, a housing and switch mechanism therein on the side of the casing, a conductor within the casing connected to said housing and in electrical connection with one terminal of the lamp, a rear conductor having a forward contact extended through the casing and exposed at its outer end Within said housing to be engaged by the switch, and a metallic ring or band Within the rear end of the casing and to which the rear end of said second conductor is connected, said spring having an upper coil carried outwardly to at all times engage the inner face of said ring or band, and said spring and said ring or band being insulated from the metal parts of the lamp surrounding them and from said closing-cap.

3. A portable electric light comprisingr an exterior casing, a battery therein, an electric lamp in electrical connection with the positive pole of the battery, a closing-cap at the rear end of said casing, a spring therein engaging the negative pole of the battery,

a metallic band Within the rear end of said casing, and means coperating' with and including said spring and band for establishing a circuit through the lamp and battery, said spring having an upper coil carried out- Wardly t0 at all times engage said band, and said spring and said band being insulated rom the metal parts of the lamp surrounding them and from said closing-cap.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 29th day of April A. D. 1919.

BERNARD BENEDICT.

Vitnesses:

ARTHUR MARION, CHAS. C. GILL. 

